Chefchaouen

After a long day of traveling we made it to Chefchaouen. A taxi left us at one of the doors of the Medina (the old part of town) and from there we started winding up the narrow streets to look for a hotel. There are few places in the world were I would choose to go back instead of visiting a new place, and I have to say that I would definitely like to visit Chefchaouen again.

The mixture of Moroccan and Andalucian architecture and décor absolutely amazed me and for the first time in this trip, every hotel we visited was more beautiful than the one before, and we didn’t know which one to choose.

We chose Hotel Andalucía first and enjoyed the place despite the 6C in our room and the fact that we could see our breath. The views from the terrace were beautiful and the inside of the hotel was decorated by Moroccan style furniture, painted in such detail!

We spent a nice time drinking green tea in front of the fire they lit for us in the den. The low temperatures made us decide to find a different hotel where we could rent a heater for our room, so we moved to another one.

Chefchaouen sits at the bottom of the Rif Mountains with its bright blue buildings, tiny balconies, tiled roofs, indoor patios with citrus trees and narrow lanes. Boutique hotels inspired by the riads of Marrakesh are everywhere and clusters of geraniums hanging give the town a distinctive andalucian flavor.


At times it reminded me of the Greek island Santorini with the lavender blue paintings and the indigo blue details on the buildings.

We spent days walking the paths of the Medina, which is easy to explore, with enough paths to keep you busy but compact enough to never get lost.

Gaby

Asilah

The trip from Fes to Asilah was hell. It was the end of a religious holiday and half the country was returning home from visiting family. On the first train we had seats but when that train dropped us off there were already hundreds of people waiting in the pouring rain for the second train. When the train finally arrived two hours late we were soaking wet and had to fight everyone to get on, then spent 5 hours sitting on the floor in the hallway of 1st class car because there wasn’t room anywhere else.

When we finally arrived at the train station in Asilah we could not get out because there were so many people blocking the way and people were fighting at the door. We finally had to start pushing and yelling because people wouldn’t move and I finally had to jump out of the moving train with my pack on my back to get out. It was awful.

We arrived at the train station in Asilah tired from the train trip. A guy was waiting there who offered to show us a pension he had in his house. We agreed to go with him and check his place out. We went to his house and the rooms were nice so we agreed to stay there. It was located next to the beach and the roof deck looked out over the ocean. We paid for his wife to cook us local food and Gaby cooked with her.

The weather was warmer than Fes, but it was stormy and the waves in the sea were huge. We were told that this year it rained like in the “old times” 30 years ago. I wasn’t particularly thrilled with our timing.

Asilah is a beach town of white whitewashed walls located close to Spain. It is known for its 15th century Portuguese stone fort and beautiful whitewashed old town.

Because of its proximity to Spain the town is a hot spot for Spanish travelers during the summer and many Spaniards have summer houses in the old quarter. This heavy European influence made the town feel less “Islamic” and more like a sleepy resort town when we were there in December. For me it was great because most people spoke Spanish and I could communicate with people instead of relying on Gaby´s French. We ate Paella and Tortilla Española (some of our favorite foods.)

It was quiet when we were there due to the weather and the time of year. There were few other tourists so we enjoyed the towns old world charms and whitewashed houses almost by ourselves with the locals.

We spent a couple of days wandering the areas beaches, harbors, exploring the medina and the old town. It was a pleasant and relaxed time.

Steve

Fes

After a beautiful ride through the Atlas Mountains, covered with snow, we arrived in Fes, the oldest of the Imperial cities.

Although it rained throughout most of our stay, we got to go around and see a lot. We met Mohamed, a young local guy who works in a carpet cooperative and he not only gave us a tour of his place of work but also showed us the city, its bars and through him we learned a lot about the Arab world.

Mohamed helped us hire a guide that took us to a beautiful view point in the outskirts of Fes, from where we could see the city from above. Although they claim that Fes is home to about 1 million people, looking at it from above you can see how the city´s expanding population is spreading to the hillsides north and south of the city.

Fes el-Bali (Old Fes) is the most interesting area for visitors and the largest living Islamic medieval city in the world. It is definitely an assault to the senses with its 90,000 streets, 40,000 dead ends, hundreds of shops (food stalls, fruit shops, butcher shops, silk shops, carpet shops and so much more). We spent a whole day walking around and visited many of them.

We went to a carpet shop where we were shown the differences among the carpets of the different tribes that make them, we visited mosques, tile shops, silk cooperatives, a traditional Berber pharmacy and the tanneries.

The tanneries are one of the most important views and strongest smells of the city. Walking up the narrow streets we got to the leathermaking part of town. Even narrower stairs take you to a second or even third floor where a terrace view displays workers with rubber boots moving pieces of leather and soaking them in different pools full of dyes. Smells are pretty strong, a mix of leather, animal feces, blood, natural dyes such as saffron and other flowers, so the shopkeeper makes sure to give you a few mint leaves that can be kept close to your nose.

Fes was a very interesting city which we were able to enjoy despite the bad weather. The temperatures were low and the rain was constant. We tried to see everything we wanted to see in a few days and we got to socialize quite a bit through Mohamed and his friends. But we were ready to move into a much mellow place and we had to continue moving north.

We realized we were leaving on the last day of some national holidays once we got to the train station and the huge doors were locked behind us, leaving hundreds of people unable to access the train. Pushing our way in, we were able to secure two spots in the walkway with hopes that eventually someone would get off and we would have a seat. That didn't happen and we traveled for 7 hours in the hallway between the first class cabin and the windows that allowed us to see a beautiful scenery, while having to get up every time someone would go through. We finally made it to Asilah. The train was still so crowded and things were piled up everywhere and I had to push my way out, while Steve had to jump off the train once it was moving with the backpack on his back.

Gaby

Azrou

After Marrakesh we wanted to continue to Fes but wanted to stop in a smaller and less touristic town along the way. We decided to stay in the town of Azrou as it had been recommended to us.

From Marrakesh there were two ways to get to Fes: The first way was to take the train back to Casablanca and take another train from there to Fes, and the second way was to take a bus that would skirt the peaks of the High Atlas Mountains and go directly to Fes. Although by train would have been quicker and more comfortable we decided to go by bus so as to get to see the wild scenery of the mountains.

We left very early in the chilly morning and the views outside were obscured by a thick fog. The bus we climbed on was cold, dirty and uncomfortable. As the fog burned off over the next couple of hours the towering, snow covered peaks of the High Atlas Mountains appeared. The country we were driving through was green, cultivated mountain foothills with plateaus and canyons falling away on our left. It was really picturesque. The road we took was a narrow winding road similar to a small country road in the States. The bus started climbing through the forested Middle Atlas Mountains until reaching a high plateau. From there we arrived at Azrou.

As a general rule in most of the poorer countries that we visited on this trip you have to add 2 hours to the travel time given to you by the bus company employees, and this trip was no different. Our bus we arrived late in the evening instead of the afternoon as promised.

Ringed with mountains covered with Pine and Cedar forests and covered with snow Azrou was an attractive Berber town of about 50,000 people. After being in touristy Essaouria and Marrakesh we were again stared at a lot in Azrou. We found a place to stay then wandered around the town. At dinner we were spectacularly ripped off at a local restaurant which had no menu or listed prices. We slept that night in a beautiful Riad with tiled walls. It had no heating and was freezing cold. We piled up lots of blankets and managed to stay somewhat warm.

The next morning we packed up again and headed to the bus station to finish our journey to Fes.

It had been a long travel day and even though the conditions on the bus left a bit to be desired the amazing mountain scenery we saw along the way made the trip more than worth it.

Steve